Tournament of Books discussion
2023 TOB General
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2023 Shortlist
Meera wrote: "Hello... I feel like I'm intruding in on the middle of a conversation, but I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone says about the books. I've been aware of TOB for a while, but by the time I th..."Welcome, Meera! I'm also intimidated by the length of Babel, but I've only seen positive comments about it here, so hopefully it will go well for us too. :)
An enthusiastic welcome, Meera! I started out behind this year, having only read one book going in. I'm up to three now, with 2 more (including Babel!) on deck. I've been a completist for some years now, but I'm afraid that several of the books have such long library waiting lists that they might not come in in time......
Thank you so much for the warm welcome! Babel is going well. I am off work this week so it will go faster than usual. I don’t feel fully engaged yet because everything is still being set up but I love the diversity of the cast of characters. Less enthusiastic about the realistic racism faced by them but oh well. I bought the books that had too much of a wait like Babel and the Zevin book. Do you guys read competing pairs around the same time if you haven’t read them already? That’s the way I’m planning my reading. I got the bracket all printed out and I’m actually taking notes (something I rarely do). It’s nice to be in a place where it is completely normal to be so excited about a book competition :-)
Meera wrote: "Thank you so much for the warm welcome! Babel is going well. I am off work this week so it will go faster than usual. I don’t feel fully engaged yet because everything is still being set up but I l..."Reading in bracketed pairs sounds like a very sensible approach! I should try that sometime. :-)
Often I read first the books about which I am less enthusiastic, and save for last those about which I'm more excited. I'm not sure why I do it this way, except that it usually works out with me ending my tournament reading on a happier note, and being pleasantly surprised at least once from among the books about which I went in with lower expectations.
I accidentally started reading TOB books in pairs and I like it! First I read Seven Steeples and Seven Moons together just because I liked the way it sounded and I had them both on hand. Of course Seven Steeples then didn’t make the tournament. I’ve just read Mercury Pictures Presents and Book of Goose together. I didn’t realize they are up against each other until Tim pointed it out. When I have a little time I will respond to you, Tim, on the pairing. I like the idea of reading two books together that are paired in the tournament. Hmm which next? How bout The Violin Conspiracy and Manhunt?
I read the ToB books in the order in which I can get them from the library. I rarely buy books on spec; that way madness lies for me. I did go to Barnes & Noble yesterday, because all hardbacks were half price and I was planning to buy the Zevin because both of my library systems have what look like unlikely waiting lists -- but B&N was OUT OF IT. They said they hadn't had it since before Christmas. I've never heard of such a thing. Human psychology is a funny thing -- if they'd had the Zevin, I might have bought 2 or 3 others, but because they didn't, I flounced out in a snit, having bought nothing. And since I picked up a free copy of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida this morning, I feel relieved -- it might have been one of the ones I would have bought!
I have to laugh at all our quirky approaches to deciding what order to read the ToB books in. Mine is equally weird.I read only in hard copy these days (no audio books or ebooks). During the year, I purchase a copy of pretty much every book that I am absolutely certain I want to read, without regard to anything else (but trying hard to stay within my allocated monthly book-buying budget). And I read them willy-nilly as I am so inclined.
Once the longlist comes out, I make a separate stack of all the books I already own that are on the list. And I look at all the other books to see if there is a title I was not aware of and that I really want to read -- if so I buy it. I focus on reading longlist books that appeal to me most until the shortlist comes out.
Once the shortlist comes out, I get serious. I buy the books I don't already own. Then, if I haven't read many from the shortlist, I usually start reading them from shortest to longest -- that way I feel like I am making good progress. If I have read a lot from the shortlist, I reverse the order, reading them from longest to shortest -- on the theory that if I only have short books left to read as the tourney nears, I can cancel all other obligations and get them finished!
I almost never buy books, all library, hard copy, ebook, audio, I'll take them all. I read what ever I can get and I don't read what they're about, I just read them.
Ellen, I love the image of you flouncing out of B&N in a snit (and can very much relate). Hope you enjoy The Seven Moons as much as I did!
Well, I won't get to it for a while yet -- I still have those 16 or 17 non-ToB library books I have to address. Since I own it now, it will probably languish until the last week in February at least...
Haha, Ellen, I hear you. My big reading challenge this time of year, and I know I’m not alone in this, is balancing ToB reading with everything else I want to read, especially stuff for my IRL book group and 2022 books I want to enjoy before they get buried under the onslaught of —eek!!— 2023 titles.
And for me, the pandemic created an explosion of book clubs. Besides the ToB, I now have FOUR, and so have to keep up with those as well.
I normally rank all the the longlist books on a scale of 1 to 5 on my desire to read them (5 being the most). I tend to read all the 5's in the longlist time, and then finish the 4's on shortlist and the 3,2,1 books get read based on early rumblings from y'all. I have 7 books left and based on what I am seeing as a collection of either indifference or dislike, I think I will end up skipping The Violin Conspiracy, Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, and Manhunt. I have Nightcrawling and The Rabbit Hutch from library, those are happening. Olga Dies Dreaming is completely on the fence and My Volcano is in the mail.
I liked reading about all the different approaches! I might not be reading all of the ones on the shortlist. I'm saving the ones that sound the least interesting last in case I run out of time. I am enjoying Babel. I'm about halfway through, and I'm already wondering which book will win the match. I enjoyed reading Sea of Tranquility more, but Babel has more depth and nuance. After Babel, I'm reading Olga Dies Dreaming and Nightcrawling.
With the aid of an Amazon gift card (and some libations), I have Mouth to Mouth and 2am in Little America on the way in the mail, as well as ebooks for Book of Goose and Manhunt. And Notes on your Sudden Disappearance and Dinosaurs from the library
Kyle wrote: "With the aid of an Amazon gift card (and some libations), I have Mouth to Mouth and 2am in Little America on the way in the mail, as well as ebooks for Book of Goose and Manhunt. And Notes on your ..."I wish people would give me gift cards for books! Unfortunately I'm the only reader in my family, so they just don't get it. Instead I usually just get kitchen utensils, ha.
Elizabeth wrote: " I wish people would give me gift cards for books! Unfortunately I'm the only reader in my family, so they just don't get it. Instead I usually just get kitchen utensils, ha.."I wonder which birthday is the 'year of the apron' ;)
Elizabeth wrote: "...I wish people would give me gift cards for books! Unfortunately I'm the only reader in my family, so they just don't get it. Instead I usually just get kitchen utensils, ha."Perhaps you could gently nudge them, first toward cookbooks, then toward culinary adventure literature, and eventually all the way over the cliff into buying books from your book wish list!
Kyle wrote: "With the aid of an Amazon gift card (and some libations), I have Mouth to Mouth and 2am in Little America on the way in the mail, as well as ebooks for Book of Goose and Manhunt. And Notes on your ..."I'm the only reader in my family too and also among my closest friends. And I got kitchen organizers for Christmas...lol....even though there was a cookbook on my wishlist.
Janet wrote: "Kyle wrote: "With the aid of an Amazon gift card (and some libations), I have Mouth to Mouth and 2am in Little America on the way in the mail, as well as ebooks for Book of Goose and Manhunt. And N..."Ironically, I got the books I asked for and have one outstanding present that I am trying for push to be new kitchen knives.
Kip wrote: "Ironically, I got the books I asked for and have one outstanding present that I am trying for push to be new kitchen knives. ..."Some people are very superstitious about giving knives as gifts - they think it will cut the relationship apart. You might have to get your knives!
So I recently finished my 8th longlister, listening to 1 in the car, and I have 3 more I got for Christmas. Wondering what everyone's top 3 or top 5? are. Mine are:1) Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
2) Mercury Pictures Presents
Welp. The rest are a bunch of 2 and 3 star reads for me: Manhunt, Dinosaurs, 2 AM in Little America, Mouth to Mouth, Passenger, Sea of Tranquility. Oh boy.
Alphabetically:1) Babel
2) Mercury Pictures Presents
3) The Sevens Moons of Maali Almeida
4) Sea of Tranquility
5) Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Longlist favorite: The Torqued Man
Bob wrote: "So I recently finished my 8th longlister, listening to 1 in the car, and I have 3 more I got for Christmas. Wondering what everyone's top 3 or top 5? are. Mine are:1) Tomorrow and Tomorrow and To..."
So far, just TTaT. Sea of Tranquility would be my next (but it was only 4 stars.) I’m waiting for my library to get ahold of Maali Almeida, because I’m pretty sure it will end up as a favorite, so much so that it was my zombie. The books I had high hopes for have been pretty universally panned here, so I’ve decided not to even try them. Looks like I’m going to read fewer shortlist books than I ever have, but I’m okay with that. (Instead I’m currently reading several non-TOB books, which I’m loving.)
Kip wrote: "I think I will end up skipping [...] Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, [...]"=Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance= may not be your cuppa, but I thought it was a great narrative voice, especially in the first half. It was moving without being terribly sentimental, and was a also a nice coming-of-age story. Might not be your thing, but otherwise, I'd recommend it.
I just finished it's pairing =The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida= and I'm trying to decide which I would advance. Very different books, but I liked them both.
Meera wrote: "I liked reading about all the different approaches! "Every year I do something a little bit different. This year, I'm reading them in the order in which I think I will like them, and at the pace they require. Every prior tournament I feel like there were a couple books that didn't get their due because I read them as quickly as I could to check them off the list.
This year I'm not going to rush any of them, even if it means I'm not a completist. (But I'm still going to try to be a completist.)
Bob wrote: "...Wondering what everyone's top 3 or top 5? are...."I've read 16 of the 18 so far, and I'm pretty darn certain the remaining two won't be among my favorites. My favorites are, in no particular order:
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (got my zombie vote)
- Babel
- Mercury Pictures Presents
- My Volcano (most unique of the bunch, I think)
- An Island
But I've gotta say, I've really liked a lot of them this year -- only two so far that I didn't appreciate, and then there are the two I've put off for last because I'm reading them only because they are in the ToB.
I’m so behind! I’ve only read 2 on the shortlist and here is how I would rank them:1. Sea of Tranquillity
2. Babel
I’m choosing my reading schedule by competing pairs but which pair depends on when I have the library book available. So it’s Olga Dies Dreaming next.
Wow everyone is raving about T3 but I read the first few pages of this and it was soooo wordy and convoluted and I literally screamed "just get to the point!!" (he's in a train station and he sees a crowd and he sees someone he knows and then he has to spend pages on thinking about the person he knows and I just wanted to know what the crowd was looking at but then finally we find out and it's a stupid Magic Eye poster???) ... and then I set it aside and it was due back at the library so I never read any more of it. Is the entire book written like that?
Nadine in NY wrote: "Wow everyone is raving about T3 but I read the first few pages of this and it was soooo wordy and convoluted and I literally screamed "just get to the point!!" ... Is the entire book written like that?"I read this last July, so it's been a while and my memory may not be entirely accurate but (view spoiler)
I finally posted my reviews of Mercury Pictures Presents and The Book of Goose. For me, Goose wins by a lot though it pains me to say it because I love Marra’s 2 Chechnya books so much but the new one doesn’t have the emotional punch in the gut like the other 2 in my opinion. And I love The Book of Goose so much. Partly because it has left me thinking about what it’s trying to say about how to live a fulfilling life. And it was just a tad weird and grotesque. Great book!! I’m on to The Violin Conspiracy mostly because it’s the only book I have on hand at the moment. Flying home tomorrow where the McCarthy box set is waiting for me.
Phyllis wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Wow everyone is raving about T3 but I read the first few pages of this and it was soooo wordy and convoluted and I literally screamed "just get to the point!!" ... Is the entir..."That is super helpful, thank you!!! I'll make sure I have it on hold again at my library.
Bryn wrote: "I finally posted my reviews of Mercury Pictures Presents and The Book of Goose. For me, Goose wins by a lot though it pains me to say it because I love Marra’s 2 Chechnya books so much ..."I'm so glad to hear this! I liked =Mercury Pictures Presents=, and have given it as a gift, and feel like it's a real crowd pleaser - but =The Book of Goose= is really something special. I'm still afraid it will be too quiet and subtle to win the opening round, but I'm getting hope now.
I just sat down for my first 2023 reading session and couldn’t bring myself to carry on with Manhunt. I was fascinated with the premise at first and confess to being intrigued by the violence / horror elements. But at the halfway mark it’s grown tiresome. I did enjoy experiencing the trans characters’ perspectives and the fresh dystopian angle but just don’t feel compelled enough with the story to continue on.
I think my top 3 so far contains books that others have not liked as much: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, Olga Dies Dreaming, and Nightcrawling
Heather wrote: "I think my top 3 so far contains books that others have not liked as much: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, Olga Dies Dreaming, and Nightcrawling"True, those will not be in my top three, but I look forward in our tournament discussions to hearing your perspective. I suspect my Top 3 so far aren't your cup of tea, either. :-)
I just read 90% of The Violin Conspiracy on an airplane. Don’t tell me who did it!!! Perfect book for airplane. But not especially thought provoking.
Heather wrote: "I think my top 3 so far contains books that others have not liked as much: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance, Olga Dies Dreaming, and Nightcrawling"Like Risa said, one of the really fun parts of the ToB for me is hearing what others got out of books. Your top 3 are not my top 3, but I did think they were "good" books. I look forward to hearing more of what you loved about them, over in the individual book discussions.
If you liked these, have you read Rabbit Hutch yet? Seems like it might be your cup of tea!
I seem to have developed the pattern of starting the very shortest book on Kindle and the very longest one on Audible. I continue on with the next longest and next shortest until I meet in the middle. Almost done listening to Babel, have finished Mouth to Mouth and am now Kindling An Island.
Mindy wrote: "...Almost done listening to Babel,..."I'm listening to Babel right now and it's well-suited for audio since it's chronological and there's a reasonable number of clearly defined characters and the plot is easy to follow. The reader is good, too.
Nadine in NY wrote Some people are very superstitious about giving knives as gifts - they think it will cut the relationship apart. You might have to get your knives!I have always been told it's bad luck to give knives as gifts for that reason, but there is a super easy work around, Just tape a penny to the knives and the receiver will pay you the penny for the knives.
Send good thoughts my way please -- I'm about to embark on the last of the shortlist and for me that is Manhunt. From what folks have said, I'm not sure I'll make it through, but I'm gonna try!
Phyllis wrote: "Send good thoughts my way please -- I'm about to embark on the last of the shortlist and for me that is Manhunt. From what folks have said, I'm not sure I'll make it through, but I'm gonna try!"Godspeed Phyllis!
Amanda wrote: " Just tape a penny to the knives and the receiver will pay you the penny for the knives ..."clever work around!!
Phyllis wrote: "Send good thoughts my way please -- I'm about to embark on the last of the shortlist and for me that is Manhunt. From what folks have said, I'm not sure I'll make it through, but I'm gonna try!"Good luck and also wow! You're almost done reading all the books?!
Phyllis is amazing! I will not be a completist this year, so I tip my cap to those of you (including Phyllis and Ellen) who will achieve this feat. I am skipping Manhunt, Volcano, and likely whatever the other play-in book is that isn't An Island. Last books to complete for me: The Passenger (currently reading), Seven Moons, Tomorrow x 3, MPP, and Babel. That will have to do for this year's Tournament for me.
I ran into an issue in that both TOB books I picked to read now are similar. Does anyone else have this hangup- you can't read books close together that are too alike?(I'm talking about Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance and Book of Goose, which I'm sure are very dissimilar once I get into them, but both focus on close female childhood relationships.)
Tournament of Books
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Yay, it's so great to hear that. Looking forward to it!